Moonwood
by Lessiehanamoray
Summary: Artemis Entreri feels that he must head to the Moonwood, but he's not sure why. Might it have something to do with elven Daggerlord Aramil Galaedon?
1. Moonwood

Disclaimer: The recognizable characters appearing in this story are © Wizards of the Coast, Inc., all rights reserved. They are used without permission and for entertainment purposes only. No profit is being made by the author for writing this story. No infringement upon nor challenge to the rights of the copyright holders is intended; nor should any be inferred

Author's Note: This may not deserve its rating, but I decided it was best to be on the safe side.

As he sat in his meeting chair, a throne at some level but not all that ornate, Aramil Galaedon couldn't help but wonder how he was going to pull his little stunt off. He was Daggerlord and so should be able to leave and just tell someone he trusted, if trust was possible, to take his position for a while.

Nova would argue.

He sighed. The one person he trusted to his position for any amount of time and she would argue. Just then the doors to his chamber swung wide and in she walked.

Nova was, indeed, a strange specimen. She had long white hair, although she frequently died it red, pale skin, and fairly pale blue eyes.

Aramil had to make sure that he knew where all of the emergency exits were. If she decided to throw a fit, he wanted to be out of there.

"Aramil?" Her voice was smooth and gentle. She wouldn't hurt him. Well, at least he hoped.

"Nova," he said smiling, "you are my most trusted advisor. You are so because I can trust you. I need your help."

Nova smiled. "What do you need, Aramil?"

He couldn't help but notice that she didn't pledge to do whatever he asked. "I need you to take my position for a while."

Nova stared at him. He had had these contests with her before. It was a test of authority: if he won, she would do what he asked: if not, it was up for grabs what she would do. He had yet to win.

The staring contest lasted over a minute before Aramil finally gave in. Nova smiled triumphantly and started walking out the door. Aramil sat down and sighed again: there had to be some way to get her to do this. There just had to.

11

"What a lovely day, don't you think?" Jarlaxle said with a grin that spread across his whole face.

His companion, Artemis Entreri, gave Jarlaxle a glare. He was in a foul mood at that moment. They were almost out of rations and the chances of getting into a town in the area they were in were very low. After all, the closest city of any size, and that would lead the companions north, was Evereska. Somehow Entreri doubted that a drow and a human were going to get in.

He wanted to go to the Moonwood though and that was decidedly north.

"Tell me, why are we headed north?" Jarlaxle questioned.

Entreri opened his mouth to give an answer, but then realized that he didn't have one.

"All the stupid elf's fault," he thought bitterly. Entreri stopped. He had referred to Aramil as a stupid elf. It felt even worse than it should have because of one basic fact. Aramil had loved him. "Well, it may be Aramil's fault," he thought. "I owe him a lot." Indeed, for Aramil had given the dagger that he now wore at his side. Aramil had also told him about Charon's Claw.

When he looked up, Entreri realized that Jarlaxle was looking at him. The drow even looked worried.

"We are headed for the Moonwood," he said simply.

Jarlaxle looked at him a moment then nodded just happy that nothing was truly wrong.

111

The beautiful elven maiden sat in reverie. Her silver hair lay smooth against her back.

"I shouldn't be doing this," thought Aramil Galaedon, as he looked at her, his weapons ready for the kill.

"Why do I want to kill her?" He asked himself that question before every kill. He knew why he wanted to kill her though. She had stopped him from leaving. Aramil was eighty and she was about 200. He was too young to go away on his own.

That's what the other elves said anyway.

What was more important? His life or that of his family's? At first he thought purely on the elven level. Then, he thought about his own opinions. His family, his adoptive father, was more important. With that thought in mind, he killed the elven maiden. With that thought in mind he left the Moonwood.

1111

"Let's see," Jarlaxle said as he and Entreri stopped to rest, "we could have dried and impossible to chew….something, or we could have more dried and impossible to chew something."

Entreri found a slight smile working its way onto his lips as Jarlaxle looked despairingly at what was left of their rations. It was a smile that, as usual, he quickly replaced with a scowl.

"We well find something."

Jarlaxle looked at his friend incredulously. "Where? You said yourself that there are no towns within week's travel of here."

"Then we are reduced to hunting and gathering," Entreri said simply.

Jarlaxle grinned and replied, "Like rangers would."

Entreri set Jarlaxle with a glare. He did not like it when rangers were brought up. It almost always meant that Jarlaxle was in the mood to compare him to Drizzt.

"I wonder what's edible in the area," Jarlaxle said. It was more to himself than his companion, but Entreri decided to respond anyway.

"Hare and I'm sure there are a few plants."

"You know I wasn't talking to you."

Entreri shrugged. How could Jarlaxle argue about the occasional annoyance? He annoyed the assassin far more often.

"Oh well might as well grab our stuff and go," Jarlaxle said in a very grumpy tone.

As they walked away Entreri began to seriously think about the ration problem. There was only one place that would have enough to get them going and for some reason Entreri didn't want to spend time hunting every day. As a matter of fact he felt that it was urgent for him to get to the Moonwood.

Aramil must have said something that was giving him this sense of urgency, but what? A time of the year? A day? No, Entreri decided, at least not in history and the only times Aramil had given dates was when he was telling stories and teaching history. Maybe somewhere in Aramil's stories lay the clue to his sense of urgency. Maybe Aramil had done something in the Moonwood that was about to matter.

After a few hours Entreri and Jarlaxle stopped for the night.

"Awfully barren place, isn't it?" Jarlaxle commented with a sigh. "Have you ever come this way before?" Jarlaxle looked at the assassin in hope that he had. The drow didn't like the rocky mountains and wanted to know the reason for being here. Hopefully the reason why would be revealed with whether or not Entreri had come here before. Much to his dismay the assassin just shook his head.

"Then why are we coming here?" Jarlaxle said making it clear that he didn't like this place.

"We are coming here because we are headed to the Moonwood," Entreri replied evenly.

"Why?" Jarlaxle asked, startled. In truth he was curious. The Moonwood was very close to Mithiral Hall and that worried him more than a little. If the assassin didn't give a reason that probably meant they were hunting Drizzt.

Why were they going? Again Entreri realized he didn't know. It had to do with Aramil he was certain of that, but aside from being an elf where did…Aramil was from the Moonwood! How could he have forgotten? Aramil had been banned from the Moonwood for assassinating another elf. Aramil Galaedon had killed somebody without reason.

"There's something I need to do there," he said simply. He didn't care how Jarlaxle took it. He just cared that they got there.


	2. Mithiril Dragon

Aramil Galaedon dove to the side as mithiral fangs missed by mere inches. Breathing hard he dove under the dragon's belly and thrust his sword high.

Clang!

Even the might Charon's Claw refused to break through the mithral shell. At some level the elf was grateful. He had not been looking forward to hot mithiral scaling down his body.

One of the mighty beast's claws lashed forward pushing him out from underneath it. Aramil found himself lying down on his back as its massive maws moved in for the kill.

22

Artemis Entreri awoke abruptly panting, as if had been in Aramil's place. It was the middle of the night and he should've gone back to sleep, but somehow he knew that wasn't an option. Mumbling to himself he moved to wake up Jarlaxle.

"What? Oh, what's the problem?" Jarlaxle said sleepily when Entreri awoke him.

"We have to go." Again the assassin had no idea why this was so urgent, it just was.

"If we're going to push this you will tell me why," Jarlaxle said simply. He didn't even bother to get out of his bedroll.

Entreri didn't want to tell him but the need for urgency felt strong. "I haven't got a clue," he said honestly.

Jarlaxle gaped. How could Artemis Entreri ever be completely clueless to something?

"We'll go, but only if you promise to tell me any reasons you manage to think of."

Entreri nodded and then the two companions set out.

222

Callahan stared through the trees just trying to see the sky. Soon he would run away from this place. Soon he would join the ranks of the assassins.


	3. And A God Laughs

Author's Note: First of all I'm sorry that these chapters are short, this was my first fanfiction and I patterned it with memories of Aramil. Secondly, the scenes with Aramil are in the past.

As Aramil Galaedon looked at the drenched boy, no man now, at the docks he couldn't have been more proud.

This was the apprentice he was training. This small 16 year-old. Suddenly, Aramil realized that Artemis was approaching him.

"I did it." he said flatly. No, it wasn't quite flat. There was satisfaction and pride in that voice as well.

Of course, Artemis had just passed the coming-of-age test in the one of the worst storms Calimport had ever known.

"Indeed you did Lieutenant Entreri."

Artemis Entreri looked at his mentor with amazement. Aramil had never called him lieutenant before! It lasted only a second, but it was there.

On the way to the guild house Aramil could've sworn that Artemis looked a little taller.

They had been traveling hard and Jarlaxle was hungry as well as exhausted. Entreri didn't seem to even notice.

"How much longer are we to go without rest?" the drow complained.

Entreri didn't even stop as he replied, "We go on until we fall."

"By the blade at this point. We would be to tired to even defend ourselves."

"Then we avoid the blade."

"If we get horses we can," Jarlaxle's sentence was cut off by a loud whinnying sound behind them. As the two companions spun around and looked, a mare and a stallion looked back. The mare was a beautiful pitch-black horse, while the stallion had a gray tent. In front of the two horses sat a large male panther.

"Sahide?" Entreri questioned.

The panther looked at him and answered, "Do you want to get to the Moonwood or not? These horses will require no direction and you can be there in about 3 days."

"Sahide," Entreri stated. Obviously the talking confirmed that question.  
Jarlaxle stared and shook his head in amazement. "What about food?"

"You'll have enough beside you in the saddlebags. If all goes well, you won't have to stop."

Before Jarlaxle could say anything Entreri went to the mare. "Akilah, I would be honored if you accepted me as your new rider."

Jarlaxle could've sworn the horse smiled.

"We had best be going," Entreri stated as he mounted. Jarlaxle had no time to aregue and for a change it was Jarlaxle who could only shake his head and follow.

As Entreri and Jarlaxle rode off even their keen ears could not hear the laughter over the thundering of hooves


	4. Of Age

As Aramil Galaedon looked at the drenched boy, no man now, at the docks he couldn't have been more proud.

This was the apprentice he was training. This small 16 year-old. Suddenly, Aramil realized that Artemis was approaching him.

"I did it." he said flatly. No, it wasn't quite flat. There was satisfaction and pride in that voice as well.

Of course, Artemis had just passed the coming-of-age test in the one of the worst storms Calimport had ever known.

"Indeed you did Lieutenant Entreri."

Artemis Entreri looked at his mentor with amazement. Aramil had never called him lieutenant before! It lasted only a second, but it was there.

On the way to the guild house Aramil could've sworn that Artemis looked a little taller.

They had been traveling hard and Jarlaxle was hungry as well as exhausted. Entreri didn't seem to even notice.

"How much longer are we to go without rest?" the drow complained.

Entreri didn't even stop as he replied, "We go on until we fall."

"By the blade at this point. We would be to tired to even defend ourselves."

"Then we avoid the blade."

"If we get horses we can," Jarlaxle's sentence was cut off by a loud whinnying sound behind them. As the two companions spun around and looked, a mare and a stallion looked back. The mare was a beautiful pitch-black horse, while the stallion had a gray tent. In front of the two horses sat a large male panther.

"Sahide?" Entreri questioned.

The panther looked at him and answered, "Do you want to get to the Moonwood or not? These horses will require no direction and you can be there in about 3 days."

"Sahide," Entreri stated. Obviously the talking confirmed that question.  
Jarlaxle stared and shook his head in amazement. "What about food?"

"You'll have enough beside you in the saddlebags. If all goes well, you won't have to stop."

Before Jarlaxle could say anything Entreri went to the mare. "Akilah, I would be honored if you accepted me as your new rider."

Jarlaxle could've sworn the horse smiled.

"We had best be going," Entreri stated as he mounted. Jarlaxle had no time to aregue and for a change it was Jarlaxle who could only shake his head and follow.

As Entreri and Jarlaxle rode off even their keen ears could not hear the laughter over the thundering of hooves.

I'm sorry all of the chapters are so short, on my other stories they'll be longer.


	5. Life of an Adventurer

Every man in the crowd was handed a stone.

"This elf deserves to die!" roared the cleric.

Stones hit him. He screamed. People ran out of rocks and as more were passed out people threw other things. He was hit with sewing needles, belts, spit, everything the people had. The pain became truly unbearable.

Then, a dagger pierced his heart and the pain finally ended.

True to his word the horses Sahide had given them got Entreri and Jarlaxle to the Moonwood within three days.

Jarlaxle was stunned at the sheer beauty of the wood. Many of the trees were almost 100 feet tall; some of them even taller. The trees gave complete coverage making the light an eerie green glow. It was beautiful.

"Do not forget the pretending to be Drizzt will not work here," Entreri noted to his awed companion.

Jarlaxle just dumbly nodded his head.

"The elves will not appreciate a drow in their forest," Sahide said calmly beside them.

Jarlaxle stared at the cat.

"How'd you get here?" he cried out in astonishment.

"I rode in one of your saddlebags."

"How?"

In answer to Jarlaxle's question Sahide shrunk. It didn't take long for him to become small enough to fit into the saddlebags on the horses.

Jarlaxle was just about to ask exactly what Sahide was, but Entreri raised his hand to silence the annoyed dark elf.

"We're surrounded," he signed.

True enough as Jarlaxle looked around he realized that they were completely surrounded by elves. Somehow Jarlaxle doubted that he and his companion would survive this little trip.

"Great," muttered Nova Von Houchie.

Why did Artemis always have to get scared will SHE was in the middle of a fight? Not like she had time to ponder this.

"Great." There just wasn't any time to think when one was and adventurer.


	6. Aramil's Gifts

"My whole family is dead," Aramil Galaedon said quietly.

"Your whole family is not dead, you still have" The High Priest's sentence was cut off by the cry of Aramil. The High Priest scolded himself for being so blind. This child was only 60.

"THEN WHO IS ALIVE?" Aramil cried out desperately.

"The rest of the elves."

"It's not the same," Aramil said, sobbing. Then, he left.

"Move and an arrow will find its way into your heart," one of the elves cried out.

The companions were perfectly still. After about ten seconds one of the elves finally jumped out of its tree, right in front of them.

"What business does a drow and a human have in the Moonwood?" The voice held no hint of fear; then again he did have about a hundred companions.

Then, the elf noticed something else. Jarlaxle could've sworn that in all his days he had never seen any kind of elf give that venomous a look.

"You wear the weapons of one of us. How did you get them?" Even as he spoke other elves came down to look. All of their gazes were on Entreri.

"Callahan! What did we discuss about your weapons practice?" Mistress Takari cried out. This kid always got on her nerves.

Callahan looked up at her.

He had incredibly dark green eyes, an incredibly rare feature among the elves and one that seemed to always spell disaster. His hair was a fairly normal silver and his face as fair as any other elf's. Callahan had a slight build and was incredibly agile, even by elven standards. He was particularly good with his fingers. Of course the only weapon he seemed to understand was the bow. He was at the top of his archery class. Of course in every other class he did horribly.

"Callahan, do you even practice?"

"Not much," he said in that monotonous voice he used continuously. Takari tried to remember when she had last heard emotion in his voice.

"What am I to do with you, Callahan? You don't learn a thing in this class."

"I don't care to learn, at least not from you," he said simply.

For a moment Takari was ready to lash out at the young elf. She managed to hold back her anger just in time.

"Who do you want to learn from?"

"I don't know." Callahan would've said more, but Takari interjected.

"Then how can you say you want to learn from some other elf?" she cried.

"I don't want to learn from an elf!" Callahan cried back.

Takari was to stunned to even do anything as he walked away.

"They were gifts," Artemis Entreri answered. The elves didn't seem to believe him.

"From who?" the lead speaker questioned.

Entreri tried to think how he was getting out of this one.

The elf drew back his bow. "From who?"

"Aramil Galaedon," Entreri stated. Instantly, all of the elven bows were up.

"You're coming with us." With that they started walking towards the elven encampment.

At about the same time Entreri and Jarlaxle were heading towards the encampment Callahan was beginning to pack.


	7. Callahan

He had to stay perfectly silent. If he wasn't the priests would get very angry.

Aramil Galaedon pulled the pendant from under his shirt. Currently it had the symbol of Mask. This was what marked him as Assassin Lord over those who worshipped Mask. Now, it was time to figure out what kind of lord he really was.

Pressing the pendant in between his hands Aramil thought about all he had done. His whole body became covered in cuts. As much as it hurt he couldn't scream. His palms began to bleed as if the skin had been peeled off. Then, it was over.

When Aramil looked at the pendant it was in the shape of a dagger. He was a Daggerlord.

The elven encampment was very interesting to those who had never seen one. Every elf lived in a tree. To one side of the grove there was weapons' training. Entreri took careful note of what was going on over there. Other parts of the grove did various other interesting, or not so interesting activities. Some of these were cooking, dancing, playing, and many other things.

Suddenly, one elf ran forward towards the group. She had the standard silver hair and light green eyes with gold flecks. The only really interesting feature was that she showed more strength than most of the other female elves.

"Takari, what is it?" asked the elf that had talked to Entreri and Jarlaxle early on.

"Galaeron, your son is trying to leave again," she said.

"Couldn't you stop him?" asked Galaeron.

Takari just shook her head.

"Deal with the prisoners we got. I'll go get my son," Galaeron ordered.

Takari nodded and looked at Entreri and Jarlaxle. It occurred to Entreri that a similar scenario had been played out before, and not just by whatever elf Galaeron was going to fetch either.

"Callahan?" Galaeron called out to his son.

There was no answer. Carefully, Galaeron looked around. He saw the signs of packing. He even saw the pack. It was well hidden and had everything Callahan would need for a long journey.

As Galaeron left he saw Callahan approaching Entreri and Jarlaxle.

Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle were getting sick of waiting. They had been standing amidst this circle of elves for far to long. Then, they spotted Callahan.

Entreri spotted the kid because the eyes had a red glow to them. It was something the assassin had gotten used to noticing. He was instantly reminded of Aramil. Aramil had had that same glow to his eyes. "Aramil," he said quietly under his breath, finally putting the puzzle together, and not liking what he was seeing at all.

Jarlaxle noticed Callahan when he realized Entreri was gazing at the kid intently. It was a very odd behavior, and Jarlaxle wondered what Entreri was seeing that he wasn't.

As Callahan walked into the ring of elves to get a good look all of the elves that saw him, and let him through, sighed in relief. Callahan was glad of that; nobody actually suspected he was leaving. Then, he saw the prisoners and his whole plan had something knew thrown into the mix. The human had red eyes.

Callahan and Entreri locked eyes for several minutes. Then, Callahan felt a tug on his shoulder. He spun around, only to face his very angry father.

"Throw the prisoners in the dungeon and take away their weapons! I need a few words with my son," Galaeron cried. 

The elves were quick to comply.


	8. Red Eyes

Author's Note: I am aware that I may not have been to clear on Sahide. He ran away when the elves found Jarlaxle and Entreri.

Aramil looked at his apprentice and smiled. At only sixteen Artemis, his apprentice was being sent to a very important meeting with one of the other pashas of the city.  
Artemis hadn't even gone through his coming of age test.

"Artemis," he said quietly as he moved beside the lad.

Artemis just looked at him.

"You're probably the best choice Bassadoni could make to go to this meeting."

Artemis smiled. It was one of Aramil's favorite things to see, and one he didn't normally.

"You're the closest thing I have to a son," Aramil finished quietly.

Just before he left he thought he heard Artemis say," I hope you get a good night's sleep tonight so that you can help meget to my coming of age test..," Artemis paused, then continued," Father."

The fact that Artemis considered him a father made Aramil feel better than he had ever felt in his 278 years.

"Awfully dank in here, isn't it," Jarlaxle complained.

It fell upon deaf ears.

"We came peacefully, they should treat us better," he continued.

Entreri didn't hear him.

"What do you think, Artemis?"

His name did not even bring him out of his trance.

Jarlaxle looked at Entreri finally realizing that the man wasn't paying any attention. Entreri had been like this since they had started to drag him away. That's when Jarlaxle had noticed it anyway. Entreri had just kept staring, but at what? Jarlaxle replayed the scene over and over in his head. He needed to know.

"What am I to do with you, Callahan?" Galaeron asked his son. This wasn't the first time Callahan had tried to run away, and Galaeron needed to figure out how to stop the attempts from happening.

Callahan just stood there.

"Callahan, listen to me," Galaeron said in an annoyed voice.

Callahan didn't move a muscle.

"What's the matter?"

"Red eyes," Callahan said quietly. The human! He was an assassin! Suddenly, it all made sense. He rushed for the door, only to be intercepted by his father.

"What do you mean by red eyes?" he asked sternly.

Callahan just looked at him and didn't answer. All he was thinking about was how to get the drow and human from the prison.

It was late when Callahan finally left from his scolding. The night was brisk and cold, only the magic of the wood kept it from being unbearable.

As he left Callahan felt as though he were being watched. If he had known by what and the kind of trouble it would get him in, he probably would've locked himself away in his home.

However, ancient beings of shadow and gods do not normally allow people to take it easy. That was how it was with Callahan. There was something planned for him, and it would happen, Sahide and Mask would see to that.


	9. The Cruelest Joke

Aramil listened to the bustle of Calimport's streets.

How could he have done it?

Aramil watched the naked, starved children run in the streets.

Artemis had counted on him.

Suddenly, Aramil's vision started to blur. He knew it was tears.

He shouldn't have done it.

Aramil started to sob uncontrollably.

Aramil had hit him, just as he was beginning to trust.

Artemis had been out so Aramil had contacted an old friend. She had suggested that the kid have a party. Aramil had decided to bring the offer up to Artemis. When Artemis had started to bring up the problems of such things, Aramil had hit him.

Artemis's voice rang in the elf's ears. He had been ordered out of Artemis's room. They had been sharing it for the boy's training. The training that might never be complete now.

Aramil rocked back and forth on the roof, sobbing. The left side of Artemis's mouth had been covered with blood.

To Aramil hitting Artemis was one of the worst things he had ever done.

Sahide watched the Callahan as the boy left his home. His lady had planned for this and the timing had been perfect. The horses had also kept their end of the deal. Now, Callahan just had to keep his.

It was to quiet. Night was just about to fall; yet there was no sound. Callahan looked through the trees wondering what was causing this to happen.

A black bolt soared through the sky and landed next to him. Callahan spun around and was ready to fire his bow in an instant.

"There is no need for such behavior," Sahide said calmly.

Callahan just stared at the talking…panther?

"Do you want to get Artemis, Jarlaxle, and the horses out of prison?" he paused for affect. "Do you want to leave the Moonwood?"

It took Callahan a moment to realize that his was nodding his head eagerly.

"Then come with me."

Callahan smiled and followed. He did not trust Sahide, but the cat had pointed out exactly what Callahan wanted to do.

In Its throne chambers Mask, the god of thieves, assassins, and disguise, watched the boy follow Sahide. Everything was going well so far. That was good; it was time for a new assassin, and for the assassins to be put back into order.

"What did you see that I didn't?" Jarlaxle asked Entreri. It was late, and the assassin still hadn't said anything.

"Red eyes," Entreri mumbled.

"On who?"

Entreri shook his head and turned to Jarlaxle. It occurred to the drow that he hadn't been paying attention to anything.

"Who caught your eyes the most?" Entreri asked.

"That boy we saw," Jarlaxle started. Entreri cut him off.

"He was the one with red eyes."

"Why does this bother you?" Jarlaxle had heard of the red eyes. It normally meant someone saw differently. However, only those with a similar case could see the red. It was another insider on who Artemis Entreri was. Jarlaxle had suspected it, now he knew. Entreri had seen death at a very young age.

"I wanted to go to the Moonwood, Sahide showed up with horses that could get us there fast, and then this boy shows up." Entreri looked at Jarlaxle.

There was a sorrow there that the drow couldn't understand. Entreri knew he couldn't understand. To Artemis Entreri the meanest joke had just been played. To Artemis Entreri, the man who hated clerics and religions so much, it was a joke, a joke against him made by a deity. He didn't want this. Then again, Artemis Entreri didn't know what he wanted.


	10. Getting Out

Everything was completely silent. Aramil signed Artemis over.

Artemis was sixteen now and had just completed his coming of age test.

When Artemis got there Aramil signaled the guard he was to take out, there would be only the bloodshed of the one they hunted this night, if they could help it.

Together the two assassins pulled out their saps. Artemis was to take out the guard on the left, while Aramil took the one on the right. Not even a sound was made as the guards dropped to the ground. Silently, the two assassins continued down the corridor.

The two assassins were lucky. The two guards they had run into had probably been good enough at handling an assassin, but with both of then coming down at once, the guards hadn't stood a chance.

The other thing this meant was that there were no more guards between there and the wizard they were supposed to kill. There were plenty of traps, but Aramil had been an assassin for about 200 years and Artemis was good with mechanics, leaving the traps as no problem.

Finally, they reached the door that should lead to where they're prey was.

"How am I supposed to get by ten guards?" Callahan whispered to Sahide as they spied on the entrance to the dungeon.

"You are the Captain's son, say that he ordered you to gather some information."

Sahide looked at Callahan. Callahan sighed. He really didn't have a better idea, so he stood up. The guards noticed him instantly. (Luckily they didn't notice the small black cat in his pocket.)

Callahan didn't even need to say anything. He was absolutely amazed that the guards just let him through. They probably didn't consider him a threat. 

Callahan entered the dungeons. If all went well, they would be out very quickly. Callahan knew the way well.

Entreri had become even quieter sense their conversation about the boy.

Entreri didn't want to do this.

The man sighed. Jarlaxle spun around when he heard it. Artemis Entreri couldn't help but smirk it was very short-lived though. Why couldn't the gods just leave him alone? Indeed, it seemed that ever since he had been a babe the god's had enjoyed tormenting him.

It was at that moment that the two companions noticed Callahan at their cell, and he had the keys.

"I know you probably don't believe me, but I'm here to get you out," the boy stated.

"Unlock the door then," Jarlaxle whispered excitedly.

Callahan did. CREEEAAAK! The door was very loud in opening. Entreri bolted out and headed for the companion's stuff on the opposite side of the room. It was only then that he noticed the travel-gear on Callahan.

"You are not planning to go with us?" It surprised Jarlaxle that the assassin would ask, and not state.

"Of course I am," Callahan answered happily. Entreri didn't argue. What was the use? Mask would just do this to him again.

Up in its realm, Mask laughed. How well the human knew it! Indeed Aramil had spoken true when he had talked about his apprentice. That was good; the assassins needed it now more than ever. Oh the cleverness!

When the companions exited the dungeon, they were greeted by being surrounded by guards.

"Halt! In the name of Corellon Larethian!" they yelled in unison.

The companions halted.

"Allow me through," a smooth voice said from behind the guards. The guards parted just enough to let an elf in the garb of a cleric through.

"I am Starsunder, at least that is what you may call me," he said calmly. Then Starsunder looked each of the companions, including Sahide, in the face. "Fetch the horses," he commanded.

The guards would not disobey.

"You have done no harm here," Starsunder explained," and I believe that you would do more if you stayed."

Akilah and the stallion charged towards their respective masters.

"Mount and be off, before I change my mind," Starsunder said simply. The companions were quick to obey, with Sahide in Akilah's saddlebag and Callahan riding with Jarlaxle.

They were out of the Moonwood within a day.

"No, Callahan you aren't understanding it," Artemis Entreri shouted at his apprentice as Jarlaxle cooked breakfast. They were practicing with weapons.

Jarlaxle found the turn of events quite humorous. Entreri would never be able to call himself a loner again with Callahan around.

Then, steam rose up and he realized that in watching them, he had burned breakfast. Oh well, it was only a little worse than what the companions were used to.


End file.
